2018 Summit Keynote Speakers

Dr. Eve Louise Ewing is a writer and scholar from Chicago. She is the author of two books, the widely lauded Electric Arches and the forthcoming When the Bell Stops Ringing: Race, History and Discourse amid Chicago’s School Closures. Her research is focused on racism, social inequality, and urban policy, and the impact of these forces on American public schools and the lives of young people. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. Eve’s work has been published in many venues, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post. She often uses public platforms to discuss these social issues, particularly Twitter, where she is a well-recognized commentator with over 150,000 followers and 25-40 million views each month. She also co-directs Crescendo Literary, a partnership that develops community-engaged arts events and educational resources. (Photo by Daniel Barlow)

Chastity Lord is the Chief Operating Officer of Color Of Change, a leading online racial justice organization. Driven by more than 1.4 million members working to build political and cultural power for Black communities, Color Of Change is creating a more human and less hostile world for all people in America. Color Of Change uses an innovative combination of technology, research, media savvy, and local community engagement to build powerful movements and change the industries that affect Black people’s lives in Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Wall Street, Washington, prosecutor offices, capitol hills and city halls around the country.

At Color Of Change, Chastity oversees the overall strategic growth and health of the organization’s internal culture, talent and leadership development, fundraising, finance and operations while also driving critical external-facing priorities. Prior to joining the organization in 2017, Chastity was the Chief External Officer for Achievement First, a nonprofit network of 32 high-performing K-12 public charter schools. She was also a Regional Vice President for The Posse Foundation, Inc., an organization devoted to urban public high school students who show academic and leadership potential that may be overlooked by traditional college admission processes. Chastity oversaw sites in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, and Los Angeles; and she doubled Achievement First’s fundraising revenue and students served as director of the Chicago chapter for five years. Before that, Chastity was Mid-Atlantic Regional Director for The New Teacher Project (TNTP) and Director of Program Services for Mentors, Inc.

Chastity holds a B.A. from the University of Oklahoma and a M.B.A. from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management. She is a 2012 Pahara- Aspen Fellow with the Aspen Global Leadership Network and serves on the boards of directors for LPAC and Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty and Law. Chastity also created National #proofpointday, a campaign to elevate the visibility and voice of first-generation college graduates.